A Labor Day tribute to remember: COVID is five years behind us, but contributions of essential workers remain special

EDITOR’S NOTE: At the height of the pandemic, we all took pains to honor the special sacrifices of our essential workers during a crisis. Five years later, it seems fitting to remember not only their efforts of that time, but the continuing role they play in keeping our communities comfortable, safe and healthy. As a reminder, the following editorial is a lightly edited, updated reprise of the editorial we published on Sept. 5, 2020.

Labor Day was born in 1894 as a political outreach to unions following a bitter and bloody Pullman Strike, and there was a time when the holiday was galvanizing, at least in union households.

But it's lost some of its magic over the years.

For most Americans, the day off has become more a celebration of leisure than of labor, a lazy, sun-drenched holiday of picnics, barbecues and pool closings that mark the end of the summer.

There's nothing wrong with that relaxation. There is no reason to apologize for it.

But in the year of the pandemic, the holiday took on special meaning. When it comes to the essential worker, it still should. As we mark the fifth year since that time, let’s remember the role essential workers play not just in a period of mass crisis, but every day.

Without any question, 2020 was a tough year for everyone. Many people were unemployed. Almost everyone was isolated and at some times, lonely. Many were working from home.

But many others didn’t have the option of working from home.

These were the people who were on the front lines of the pandemic. They did the work that, by definition, the rest of us need to have done. They kept us fed. They protected our health. They kept the economy going.

They also put themselves in harm's way. Their risk of exposure to the virus was far greater than the risk of anyone who works from a keyboard in a spare bedroom.

These were the people we all wore masks for. They are the people we must continue to honor and appreciate today.

We owed them more in 2020 than just to wear a mask to avoid spreading disease. We owed them respect and dignity and living wages. We are not wearing masks much these days, but the debt we owe is not diminished.

They are health care workers. They are first responders — police, firefighters and emergency care specialists — rushing to scenes of danger and devastation. They are scientists working to find treatments and cures.

They are bus drivers and train conductors and air traffic controllers.

They are the people who work in grocery stores and restaurants. They fix our streets and roof our homes and collect our garbage. They produce our disinfectants and fill our prescriptions.

They serve the homeless and care for the needy and bury the dead.

They repair downed power lines and clean the water and control the wildlife.

And yes, they photograph the news and print the paper and deliver it to your home.

These and more are the essential workers, and we must not assume that they deserve any less appreciation today than they did five years ago.

These are the essential workers, often underappreciated, frequently underpaid, seldom thanked, and the thing is, we couldn't do without them.

An observation that’s as true now as it was in the middle of a pandemic.